Investors.com - New President Causes Shift In War Politics

Investors.com - New President Causes Shift In War Politics: "We don't hear all that much about Iraq these days, do we?

The war at one point almost tore apart this country. Public anger sent George W. Bush's approval ratings plummeting. And the outrage over our losses helped elect vocal anti-Iraq War candidate Barack Obama. But Iraq is hardly in the news anymore. That seems odd, given that 120,000 American troops are still stationed there.

Why the silence?

In short, Americans are not dying in Iraq as they were from 2006 to 2008. Twice as many Americans have died in Afghanistan this year as in Iraq. As of this writing, in December, there have been four coalition fatalities. That's one-tenth the number of people murdered per month in Chicago in 2008.

Perceptions of the war in Iraq have also changed in unforeseen ways. 'No blood for oil,' for example, was once a common anti-war cry. But Iraq's auctioning of its oil leases has gone mostly to Europeans, Russians and Chinese — not Americans."